Chapter 17—Damage Control

A/N: Special thanks to Astrid, GHOST303, and kimberly316 for reviewing! I really appreciate it!

[that night]

Armed with newfound information about Eva Marie and Randy, Liz kept her distance from the redhead for the rest of the night. Liz was on the RV pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she got ready for bed."

"You alright, babe?" Randy asked as he stepped onto the bus.

She nodded. "I'm fine. The baby just keeps moving around, but it doesn't hurt; it's just uncomfortable," she said.

"Oh. Okay. Is there something bothering you? You've been pretty quiet tonight," he said.

Liz took a deep breath. "I'm going to ask you a series of questions, Randy. Before you lie, just remember that when a woman asks a question, there is a 90% chance that she already knows the answer to the question," she said.

Randy frowned but nodded anyway. "Ask away," he said.

"Do you think Eva is pretty?" she asked.

He thought for a moment and took a deep breath. "She isn't ugly. She has a certain attractiveness about her, so yes, she is pretty," he answered cautiously.

"If you and I weren't in a relationship, would you hook up with her?" she asked.

Randy carefully thought over his answer before he nodded. "Probably," he said.

"Have you slept with her, or anyone else for that matter, since we started dating?" Liz asked.

Randy's eyes widened; he stammered to come up with an answer. "I uh—well, there isn't—but maybe this—" he took a shaky breath. "No," he finally answered.

Liz sighed and continued with her hair and makeup; she turned her back on Randy. She couldn't even stand to look at him.

"Liz," Randy started, but Liz interrupted him.

"You told me that I could trust you, Randy. That you would be 100% committed to me! Why would you even invite me to travel with you while you're cheating on me?" she asked.

"What are you talking about, Liz? I haven't been cheating on you! I have every intention to be faithful. I really do; but since we're on the topic, I have a problem and I need you to stand by me on this," he said.

"And what problem is that? Habitual lying?" she asked sarcastically.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his short hair. He paced a bit before he answered.

"I have an addiction to sex. I've been seeing a sex therapist for the last few months," he admitted.

Liz was speechless.

"I didn't tell you because I was afraid of what you would say," he said.

"Do you understand how hard it is for me to believe you right now?" she asked.

He frowned. "I just admitted one of my deepest secrets, and you're complaining about how you don't believe me?!" he asked angrily.

She chuckled humorlessly. "Don't turn this around on me, Randy! We don't have secrets; at least we aren't supposed to! I have never purposely kept something from you,"

"Oh, bullshit! You were getting your ass handed to you for months and you never once told me!" he yelled at her. He immediately regretted what he said when he saw Liz's reaction.

Liz's eyes watered with tears; she turned away from Randy before a tear could fall. She grabbed her duffle bag and shoved articles of clothing inside.

"What are you doing?" Randy asked.

Liz ignored him and picked up her phone. She scrolled through her contacts and the number she was searching for. As the phone rang, Liz sniffled and tried to compose herself.

"Hey, Phil. Have you left the arena yet?" Liz asked into the phone.

Randy was clearly upset as he watched his girlfriend talk to Punk.

"I just wanted come by and see your place later," she said; her voice unexpectedly cracked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.

Liz listened intently to Punk as he spoke.

"Okay. I'll meet you there; I'm still on Randy's bus right now, but I'll see you a second," she said before hanging up.

Randy followed her to the front of the bus. "Are you really running off with Punk of all people?" she asked.

"You know what Randy, Punk actually asked me how I'm feeling since Wade's accident. You never once asked! Like you never even cared!" she yelled.

He shrugged. "You never said anything so I assumed that you were okay. I can't read your mind, Liz!" he said.

"Yeah. That's why you're supposed to ask, Randy. I'll see you whenever," she said as she left off the bus.

Randy was left behind on the bus. He cursed and yelled out loud until it was time for him to go back inside for his closing segment of Smackdown about 20 minutes later. As he was walking in the backstage area, he saw Liz being carried out on a stretcher; she had an oxygen mask and a neck brace on. He rushed to the paramedics who were loading her in the ambulance.

"What happened?" he asked. There was so much buzz from the paramedics that they didn't hear Randy's question. He looked around and saw a few others watching; Randy went to them for answers.

"What happened?" he asked the group of co-workers. Most of them shrugged; the rest didn't answer at all.

A stage hand approached him. "You're on in less than 2 minutes! Let's go!" the man said urgently.

Randy tried is best to clear his mind before going out to the ring for his match against Roman Reigns of The Shield.

By the time he made it back to the locker rooms after the match, multiple rumors had spread about what happened. Instead of asking for an update, Randy pulled on street clothes over his ring gear and quickly went to his bus.

He tried to catch his breath as he talked to Tony. "I need to go to the hospital! They took Liz right before my match," he said. Tony nodded and started driving.

In the back of the RV, Randy called everybody he could think of who might have had information on Liz's condition. He called Nikki Bella, John, Cody, Dolph, and even Punk. No one seemed to know what was going on. Randy groaned and sat nervously until Tony pulled up to the hospital.

Randy practically sprinted to the nurses' station. "I'm looking for my girlfriend; her name is Elizabeth Caro," he said to the nurse behind the desk.

She frowned. "Um… she was just checked out about 3 minutes ago by someone named Nick Potenza," she said.

"What?!" Randy practically screeched. "That's impossible," he said knowing that Nick was dead.

The nurse nodded. "She said you would say that. I assume you're Randy?" she asked.

Randy nodded.

"Miss Caro left this for you," she said as she handed Randy a sealed envelope. Randy opened the envelope and pulled out a hand written note from Liz. He read it to himself.

Dear Randy,

You have lied to me over and over again. I tried to trust you; I really wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but that won't be possible as long as you're lying to me. I want you to know that I'm safe; I wasn't kidnapped or anything. My blood pressure got a little high and got really bad cramps. My baby and I are fine. I'm going back home. I don't think it would be good for us to be in a romantic relationship, but I would love to still be friends. I'll always love you as a friend; that won't ever change. Love you, loser.

XOXO—Liz

Ps: Dolph checked me out. I told him to pretend to be Nick because I knew you would come here looking for me. I told the nurse to watch your reaction then give you this note. I hope to see you later on in life, but for now, you and I should really keep our distance. Don't be mad at him; I told him to lie to you.

Randy tried to compose himself as he stomped out of hospital.

[one hour earlier]

When Liz found Punk backstage, he was in his locker room talking to Eva. Liz was confused, but she listened in on their conversation.

"We had a deal, Punk!" Eva yelled.

He laughed in her face. "I told you I would break them up. I didn't guarantee that Randy would fuck you. That's all up to you. You already slept with him once; I don't get why it's so challenging for all of a sudden," he said.

"Have you not noticed? That bitch Liz is crazy!" Eva said.

Punk chuckled. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when you flirt with her boyfriend right there in front of her. That's all your fault; that ain't got shit to do with me. I held up my end of bargain. And I have a feeling I'll be getting my prize in a few minutes. Liz is on her way here right now," he said.

Eva was skeptical. "How do you know that?" she asked.

Punk held up his phone. "She just called me crying. I guess she and Randal had an argument about you," he said.

Eva furrowed her brow. "Why could they be arguing about me?" she asked. She thought about it for a moment before gasping.

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HER?!" Eva yelled.

He shrugged. "You told me to break them up, Cherry. You didn't tell me how I had to do it. It's not like I lied. Besides, why do you care? They're probably not together anymore. No more sneaking peeks at The Viper. You can jump his bones whenever you want, now," he said.

"I'm sorry, did you miss the part where I said that she's bat shit crazy?!" Eva asked loudly.

"Huh… I guess I did," Punk said; he turned his back and went about his own business while Eva paced nervously.

"What exactly did you tell her?" she asked.

[flashback]

"Oh, jeebus. You didn't know. I'm so sorry, Liz. Please don't be mad at me. I thought you knew,"

"You thought I knew what, Phil?" she asked impatiently.

Punk sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but Randy and Eva Marie have been hooking up through the last few weeks. They've been sharing hotel rooms and everything. When he got the RV for you, he broke it off with her for good. I'm sure he had good intentions, though. I don't think he'd keep hooking up with her now that you're traveling with him," he said.

[end of flashback]

"Oh my god, Punk! Why would you tell her that?! Now, she's going to kill me!" Eva said.

Liz' phone rang and gave up her position on the other side of the door. Punk swung the door open when he heard the ringing. Liz was more than upset; he slapped Punk hard across the face.

"I can't believe you would do something like that, Phil! I thought we were friends! How could you purposely break me and Randy up like that?" she asked angrily.

"You two were never going to last, Lizzy. I only sped up the process," he said.

Eva tried to sneak out of the room, but Liz blocked her exit. Liz drew her fist back to punch Eva in the face, but she suddenly got a sharp pain in her belly.

"My baby," she groaned.

Punk ran out into the hallway and returned with paramedics who loaded her onto a stretcher; Liz could hear Randy asking what happened.

Randy called Liz's cellphone repeatedly, but he never got an answer. He called Dolph as well; eventually, the Show Off answered.

"What do you want, Randy?" he asked when he picked up.

"Where is Liz?" he asked.

Dolph sighed. "She told me not to tell you. She's safe, though. Why do you care, anyway?" he asked.

Randy frowned. "She's my girlfriend. Why wouldn't I care?" he asked.

"Well you have been fucking Eva Marie…" he said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! I slept with her once and that was like a month ago at the Royal Rumble!"

"Why won't you just own up to it, Orton? Liz heard Punk and Eva talking about you and her hooking up consistently these last few weeks," Dolph said.

Randy's temper was starting to get out of control. He hung up the phone and tried to contact Liz again; it was no use because she never picked up.

[one week later]

Randy was still unable to contact Liz to talk to her about their situation. Tonight, however, he would have a chance to talk to Punk about what he told Liz.

John and Randy were sitting in the catering area backstage at Raw that was being held in Austin, Texas, when Punk walked past the two friends. Before John noticed that Randy had even moved, he was tackling Punk to the floor.

Randy pounded his fists onto Punk's face. Other superstars ran to access the situation.

"Get up, you punk ass bitch!" Randy yelled as Punk laid on the floor. When Punk finally stood to his feet, he attacked Randy with knees to the taller man's midsection. The brawl continued through the entire backstage area; those who tried to get involved got hit in the process so they gave up.

It wasn't until the brawl spilled onto the Raw stage in the middle of a match between Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose did stagehands, referees, and paramedics really try to break up the fight. The 15-20 people who attempted to break up the brawl were successful. When the two men were finally separated, they both were bleeding. Randy from his lip, Punk from his eye.

Punk chuckled humorlessly. "Face it, Randal. She's better off without you. Liz deserves someone who hasn't murdered two people; maybe even more than that!"

That comment riled Randy up more the Punk ever expected. The Viper broke free from the people holding him back. He lunged at Punk and continued the beating. This time, Punk's injuries were a bit worse; he had at least one broken rib.

"You got anything else to say to me, motherfucker?" Randy asked rhetorically.

Punk held his abdomen and tried to catch his breath. "Actually, yeah, I do…I hope you never see her again!" he said though labored breathing.

Deep down, Randy knew that Punk's wish was already granted. He knew he would never see Liz again and that was the one thing he would never be able to fully accept.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW

ALSO, GHOST303 IS NEW TO FF SO PLEASE GO CHECK OUT HER RANDY ORTON/OC FIC "CONFESSIONS OF A GREEN ROOKIE". SHE HAS ALREADY LET ME READ IT IN ITS ENTIRETY BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE REREADING IT HERE. CHECK IT OUT. THANKS! :)